Friday, March 22, 2013

And now, the end is near...

And so I face the final curtain. This time next week the first -and best- ICS team placed in Ghana will be boarding a plane and heading home. Home to reality. Home to bills, rent payments, job hunts and so many other issues ducked and dodged whilst away for 3 months. But also we're home to friends and family, real cheese and a meal without rice. While I will be sad to leave a country that has given me so many great memories and experience, ultimately, I really like cheese.

It's strange the things you look forward to: After 3 months of soaring heat, mosquito nets and sweaty nights my duvet finds itself high up on my list of 'Things I missed.' Likewise rain will be a welcome treat and so will layers. I'd go as far as to say 'layering up' is one of my top priorities in the UK. I'll be making sure my hoody and gillet combo is at the top of my suitcase. Easily available for those first wet, cold steps out of Heathrow airport.

Paradoxically I will of course miss the weather. Maybe not the heat and temperature but how can one not miss the sun? I'll miss the goats and I'll miss the adventures. Hell, I might even miss Tolu :) Ghana has given so many great memories and grateful to have met so many great people: The other amazing volunteers I've been with, the people we've worked with at RAINS and IS and the people in the community often with so little and still so gregarious with their time.

With only one week left to go we're preparing for our last adventure. We wrap up in the office today and we have one last day with International Service on Monday before we fly south to the capital: Accra. Here we hope to see another side of Ghana and enjoy their beautiful beaches, visit the Akosombo dam, see Lake Volta and visit old slave forts on cape coast.

Our final chapter, our final adventure. I've lived a life that's full while I've been here. I've travelled each and every highway, but much more than this, I did it my way. Ghana, you've been amazing. Lets finish strong.